Xen-Tan Deep Bronze Vs. St Moriz Tanning Mousse

This is one of them posts that I have been meaning to do for months and kind of haven't got around to doing as there is no outright winner. Both products have both good & bad points however there is a huge price difference so I thought it was a post worth writing. The cheaper of the two products is ofcourse St Moriz (not St Moritz..which is what I thought it was called for afew months). This can be bought it spray or mousse format and costs around £2.99 for 150ml in discount shops like TK Maxx. Xen Tan on the other hand comes it so many different formats & shades - however the one I have is a medium instant tan in Deep Bronze (slightly confusing) and costs £19.95 for 148ml.

So there is a big price difference in the products which I can hopefully point out the in's and out's of.

St. Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mousse

(One down side of St Moriz is how it stains the hands - this is the effect of it being on the skin for literally seconds. A mitt is essential with this tan!)

So St. Moriz promotes itself as -

Instant Bronzing - I have to agree with this, the mousse applies dark and gradually gets darker over afew hours. There is no need to wash of any guide colour the next morning.

Long Lasting - I'm not to sure about this one. If you exfoliate well prior to applying the mousse it lasts 4-5 days then starts to get lighter. However I have found if you don't bother exfoliating or scrubbing any dry skin the tan can start looking patching by day 3/4. So it really does depend on how well you prepare your skin!

Fast Drying - Yes! I think this is why I like St Moriz so much. It dries instantly and doesn't leave the skin tacky or sticky which means you can sit like a normal person straight after applying the tan rather than a robot! Having said that...I would not get dressed and go shopping on a hot day after applying this, as anywhere you sweat the tan will literally disappear. I find this is mainly in the inside elbow part of my arms...not a good look!

No Streaks - Well if you apply any tan badly or quickly there will be streaks. If you spend time though applying the tan it will be even...however the tan does have a tendency to fade patchy.

(For some reason I photographed my arm with the WRONG product...I used the mousse here and not the spray. As you can see there is some build up near my wrist. This was the result of re-applying it on the 4th day)

So here is a quick summary of the positive and negatives of St Moriz

+ Natural tan..no orange however much you apply

+ Only £2.99 a bottle need I say more

+ The bottle lasts a fairly long time

+ Applies evenly and you can see it going on

+ Soaks into the skin and dries instantly

+ No smell

- The main negative - it fades patchy!

- Stains hands so you do need a mitt.

- Can be hard to do the face with a mousse or a spray

- If you want to use this continuously over afew months you can see a build up in drier areas.

- Not available in high street shops so abit hit & miss

- The bottles leak around the cap!

- The spray version is messy

All in all this is really great value for money and leaves the skin looking very natural and sun kissed rather than orange. As someone with pale skin the tan looks fine and I would suggest if you have slightly tanned skin naturally it would work. However any darker I doubt this product would work.

Instant Bronzing - I cannot agree with this. As you can see the tan is a strange brown/green colour and when on the skin it looks abit muddy...nothing like the tan it turns into. So I really would say the brown/green colour is the guide colour which needs to be washed off the next day. I find if I don't my white hand towel is a lovely shade of brown once I've dried my face the next morning. Moisturizing Ingredients - I haven't overly noticed..but thinking back it does leave the skin soft and the tan doesn't dry the skin which other tans tend to do. I also personally think this helps the tan to last longer as the skin isn't dry.

Long-wearing self tan - I definitely agree with this. This is the only tan I have found to last over a week and still look good. It also fades evenly and just goes lighter and lighter.

(As you can see the Xen Tan is very natural looking - the photo was taken 4 days after applying the tan)

As for positive and negatives of the product...

+ A lovely even tan that can work on the lightest of skin and still look natural

+ Smells amazing for a self tanner - like a chocolate/vanilla scent

+ Not messy at all to apply, you can leave the bathroom as tidy as when you went in

+ As the product is a body lotion type product you can really make sure you have covered all areas

+ Easy to apply to the face and ears

+ You can apply this with your hands which gives alot more control of the product & doesn't stain the hands while tanning (just make sure to wash the hands well!)

+ The products can be purchased on there website here with 10% off & free delivery

- If you over rub the product into the skin it can remove some of the tan and look patchy.

- The same goes for using the Xen Tan mitt - It removes the tan & looks very odd.

- You have to wait for the tan to dry, so it does feel tacky on the skin for about 30 minutes

- You have to wash the tan off after it has developed for it to look it's best

- The price - £20 for a self tanner can be alot to pay for most people. However it does last a long time

- If you are darker skinned I doubt this tanner would even show up even though the product is advertised as being 'Deep Bronze' You would have look at the darker tanners in the range.

Overall - If you want a quality tan that doesn't take forever to apply and doesn't leave a mess. This is for you. However I would always apply this with my hands and not a mitt as the product doesn't react well to being over worked into the skin.

I realize I haven't covered everything so if you have any questions about either products feel free to leave them in the comments & check back after a day or so!

16 comments:

A really good thorough review here hun. :)I use to swear by St Moriz before I discovered Xen Tan, and now for me, this is my HG fake tan. Although St Moriz is still fine and considering it is cheap as chips, you cant really complain.xxx

Really comprehensive review here, not a great fan of selftan myself, can never be bothered really, but I can never resist a good read on any beauty product and this is definately a good read. Thanks for posting.

Great review! I so badly wanted to like St Moriz but it dosnt show up on my skin! Iam around an Nc15/20 in mac foundations so im fairly pale and this literally gives me no colour.Been wanting to try xen tan for a while so i think i will have to purchase soon x

I use st moriz and it's a really good tanning product. You said it's not available on the high street, but I bought mine out of Semi-Chem. I've not tried Xen-Tan bacause I think £20 is a lot to pay for a fake tan. I have to say this was a great review, thanks :) xx

Really good review sweets, I thought St Moriz to be m HG tanner, that was untill I tried Xen Tan Dark Lotion last week and it's just been amazing :) .. The St Moriz was drying my skin out terribly, but the Xen Tan is just sooo moisturising! xx

Iv heard St Moriz is incrediably bad for your skin, i wonder if this is just a rumour or not? I know girls who have come out in rashes using it. Am I better of going for a better tan or is safe enough?

@Anonymous - I think any product can give a reaction really, if you are allergic to a specific ingredient. However I've never had any problems with it. But if you are worried it's worth just trying it out on your legs first and see if it's ok. But you should be fine!

i love st moritz use it every week it does dry out your skin but just apply loads off moisturiser every day after a bath-shower! also iv found a great way off applying it thats takes no longer than 10mins and wont stain your hands! put on a latex glove then over that pop on a tanning mitt goes on really evenly an you you can rub it in with out it becoming patchy then put loads of hand lotion on your hands and a small amount of the tan, no orange hands!! x

i found rubbing tooth paste together with dry hands takes any tan off then just wash your hands normal :)i got Xen tan for my prom thought it was really nice and it does smell amazing but its not noticibly better than st morizdefinetly LOVE LOVE LOVE st moriz and i think i you apply a little sally hansen on your legsover the st moriz before you go out they literally look flawless

You can get St.Moriz in places like Savers, B&M bargains, and Home Bargains too, all on the high street :)

I used St Moriz last year but it never looked as beautifully natural on me as it seems to on your skin! This year I've been trying out Xen-Tan's Dark lotion, which I don't think is that dark, and doesn't last as long as I was hoping either!

xen tans dark lotion is their best product,it is dark when u put it on and gets darker :) im very pale and it looks great but as soon as you have a shower and the bronzer washes off,i need to apply another coat :( the mitt makes me patchy at times,depends what you wash with in shower! Avoid DOVE products!

I used Xen tan once and it went patchy after 2 days.I have been using St Moriz ever since after being told about it by my hairdresser. I find it really easy to apply and I love the fact its dry within minutes. I normally apply in the evening and leave it on over night, I wake up and it looks a little dark but once I've had a shower I'm left with a nice tan :)

I used Xen tan once and it went patchy after 2 days.I have been using St Moriz ever since after being told about it by my hairdresser. I find it really easy to apply and I love the fact its dry within minutes. I normally apply in the evening and leave it on over night, I wake up and it looks a little dark but once I've had a shower I'm left with a nice tan :)

I used Xen tan once and it went patchy after 2 days.I have been using St Moriz ever since after being told about it by my hairdresser. I find it really easy to apply and I love the fact its dry within minutes. I normally apply in the evening and leave it on over night, I wake up and it looks a little dark but once I've had a shower I'm left with a nice tan :)